Ordinary

"Miss, Crystal has fully recovered."

"Thanks for your hard work!"

Liu Muning took the lively, energetic Crystal from the healer's hands and rubbed her cheek against the Titanium Crystal Ragdoll's fluffy body. "You worked hard today too, Crystal!"

"Meow!" (＞＜)☆

"Oh, right. I had a lot of fun today, so here's an extra reward for you—the room where you interviewed this afternoon will be your private office from now on."

After giving the cat a good rub, Liu Muning looked at Chen Wei with satisfaction and nodded, her tone relaxed.

"Thank you for the reward, President Liu." Chen Wei thanked her out of habit. The benefits this beautiful boss he had met during today's interview had offered him were a little too generous, and he was struggling to handle them!

"You? President Liu? I wanted to say this during the interview—I don't like such old-fashioned forms of address."

Liu Muning lightly furrowed her brows, then added, "Don't use honorifics from now on. Just call me Sister Muning."

"Alright." Chen Wei obediently nodded. The person before him was going to be his superior at work, so Sister Muning it was. Whatever the boss said went—after all, she was giving him far too much!

"Alright, we'll wrap things up here today. Discuss the specifics with Yun. I still have something to do, so I'll be leaving first."

Liu Muning lowered her head to glance at her exquisite watch, seeming to have lost interest in continuing the conversation.

Chen Wei stared blankly at Liu Muning's departing figure. What a miraculous day.

After the interview, he had inexplicably fought a battle with a master-level Beastmaster. The absurd part was that he had actually won, and just like that, he had earned a Titanium Crystal Ragdoll worth several million Star Coins.

"Hey, hey, stop staring. Miss has already left!"

A forthright voice suddenly sounded beside his ear. Chen Wei turned to look at the amateur secretary-referee.

"My name is Gu Yun. Let's exchange contact information first. Oh, and you need to work at least one day every month. Remember to let me know in advance on the day you come in."

Chen Wei took out his phone and exchanged contact information with her, saving her name as well for easier contact in the future.

"Because your contract is rather special, we need some time to revise the terms. So we can only sign it on your first day of work. Do you have any other questions, Mr. Chen?"

Gu Yun explained the work procedures to Chen Wei clearly and concisely.

"Mm-hm, no more."

Night fell.

Inside a lavishly styled room in the Ragdoll Mall, a gorgeous source-crystal chandelier hung from the exquisitely decorated ceiling, casting dreamlike radiance.

At the elegant dining table, Liu Muning was eating dinner with graceful poise, while Gu Yun stood behind her, upright and dignified.

After finishing her meal, Liu Muning wiped her lips clean with a napkin. As if sensing something, she casually asked, "What's wrong? You've been absent-minded since this afternoon. Did something happen at home?"

"N-No." Gu Yun immediately bit her lip nervously.

"If there's a problem, you can say it directly. There's no need to be afraid. Even with my back to you, I can feel the confusion and conflict in your heart."

"I-I just feel that, in the match this afternoon, Miss, you weren't serious. Y-you even..." Gu Yun stammered, not daring to voice the doubt in her heart.

"You think I deliberately lost to him, don't you, Yun?" Liu Muning said casually, her tone calm.

"N-No, that's not it." Gu Yun's eyes instantly turned flustered and uneasy as she hurriedly shook her head.

"Yun, don't be nervous. There is no undefeated Beastmaster in this world. Besides, I'm just an ordinary researcher and alchemist, aren't I?"

Liu Muning frowned, her tone casual.

"Ah, y-yes." Gu Yun hurriedly nodded. "I'm sorry, Miss. My performance today was truly terrible!"

"It's alright. Although we haven't known each other for long, I quite like your temperament—frank, capable, and unpretentious."

Liu Muning smiled as she comforted her secretary.

"But a loss is a loss. There's nothing shameful about losing. If you say I threw the match, I'll sue you for slander!"

Liu Muning's tone was teasing, as though she were joking.

"I'm terribly sorry, Miss." Gu Yun's face instantly went pale, utterly bloodless.

Liu Muning then inconspicuously touched her ear, which seemed to be heating up. She deliberately turned to gaze calmly at the beautiful night view beyond the window, secretly musing to herself.

Was that pet battle this afternoon really so obvious? It was my first time throwing a match! Even Yun saw through it!

Chen Wei did not linger for long. During his conversation with Gu Yun, the secretary's eyes had remained filled with astonishment and confusion whenever she looked at him, making him feel as though he were sitting on pins and needles. He simply kept things brief and took the initiative to say his goodbyes.

Back at his apartment, Chen Wei, exhausted after a busy day, flopped weakly onto his comfortable bed. A cyan rune formation flashed past, and in the blink of an eye, Color Spirit appeared on Chen Wei's chest.

"Yiyi!" (Enhance, enhance!)

Seeing the trace of excitement in Color Spirit's adorably vacant eyes, Chen Wei smiled helplessly. "Later. I'll help enhance you after I finish cultivating tonight."

"Huh..."

Tilting its head in disappointment, Color Spirit sadly turned away and curled into a ball beside the pillow, clearly no longer in the mood to keep communicating with Chen Wei.

"Alright, alright, I really can't do anything with you." Chen Wei laughed soundlessly. Was there really any need to be this anxious? It wasn't as if he was refusing to enhance it.

But honestly, seeing how much Color Spirit liked his massage enhancement made him happy from the bottom of his heart.

Chen Wei got up from the bed, his face brimming with a smile as he tried to coax Color Spirit.

The next second, a familiar "bzzz, bzzz" came from his pocket—the sound of his phone vibrating.

He instinctively pulled out his phone, his gaze involuntarily drawn to the incoming call notification on the screen.

"Hello, your package has arrived. Please come out and collect it."

"Okay." Chen Wei hung up, gathered the dumpling-curled Color Spirit into his arms, and soothed her as though comforting a child. "All right, don't be mad anymore. Cheer up—your food just arrived. Let's go get it together."

Chen Wei opened the door. A deliveryman in a blue uniform emblazoned with Rainbow Eagle Express stood outside, holding a package.

"This is your package. Please provide the pickup code." The deliveryman curiously glanced at the bundled pet beast in Chen Wei's arms. He had rarely seen such an adorable pet beast.

The pickup code was a necessary part of collecting a delivery, ensuring that it was the Beastmaster himself who received it.

After all, products from the Beastmaster Mall were sold only to Beastmasters, and Beastmasters who shopped there were strictly forbidden from reselling Beastmaster goods to ordinary people.

Any Beastmaster caught engaging in such resale would be harshly punished by the Beastmaster Association. In serious cases, they could even have their Beastmaster qualifications revoked by the Association.

Taking the package from the deliveryman, Chen Wei casually inspected its tightly sealed wrapping for a few moments, then nodded in satisfaction and recited a string of numbers.

"Beep. Receipt confirmed." The notification sounded from the deliveryman's phone.

"Thank you for choosing Rainbow Eagle Express." After confirming that the procedure was in order, the deliveryman turned and left.

"Yi? Yi!" (ω) (Food? What is that?!)

Color Spirit curiously looked at the package in Chen Wei's hands, then stuck out her tongue and tentatively touched it.

"Hey! Don't—it's dirty. It's not food."

Chen Wei hurriedly stopped Color Spirit's curious action.

New author, new book. So... is anyone reading?